Loving Ariadne
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: After an Inception goes tragically wrong, Ariadne's mind is lost. A&A LOVE
1. Chapter 1

** After an Inception goes tragically wrong, Ariadne's mind is lost. **

** I was first inspired to write this based on the idea of what would have happened if Ariadne had fallen into Limbo and lost her mind. The details are added because I work with a great deal of Altimeters patients. Most of them are very pleasant to myself and others around them. They are confused but still very happy to be around people who are nice to them.**

** But I've often wondered how it hurts those who love them, particularly the husbands and wives. This story is based on one couple. Married for God only knows how long. While she lost almost all he memories, he came to see her every day at the nursing home. Brought her dinner and ate with her. Watched T.V. With her, pushed her wheelchair around and she had no idea who this man was. **

** Before her condition became so bad, he took care of her at home. **

** It's not easy to take care of someone like this and imagine how hard it would be to take care of someone who doesn't remember you. **

** On the other side of the coin, imagine how hard it is to lose you memories and everyone around you is a total strange and some man is saying he's your husband. **

**Loving Ariadne**

1.

~ A train cut effortlessly though the still country side. Inside a privet car, its shades all draw so no other passengers could see in, five people slept. A teenage boy was putting headphones on the ears of one of the sleeping men. Pressing the pay button as the PASIV timed down to zero.

Arthur opened his eyes slowly. Nothing made him jump awake. Not a terrible fall or being shot in the head. His breathing was slow and steady as he heard the loud, distinctive wake up music.

"How did it go?" The kid asked him.

Arthur was on his feet.

"Not good." He said moving to Ariadne. The last he had seen of her in the dream, she was shot and dieing. They had once more used Yuseff's clever compound to venture deeply into a Mark's mind. Only this time, it didn't work.

The Point Man pulled Ariadne and Cobb out first. He had been worried that in the time it would take for her to wake up , she would die and fall into Limbo.

Cobb opened his eyes as Arthur disconnected Eames. Unlike Arthur, everyone else woke with a start. Cobb was breathing hard and Eames was coughing.

"Everyone alright?" Arthur barked handing the kid some money and telling him to get lost.

"Well, that was not pleasant." Eames said checking the pulse of their sleeping Mark.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cobb said trying to calm down. The normally composed Extractor looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"Ariadne?" Arthur said in his crisp professional tone. He looked back at her when she didn't answer.

Their pretty Architect was sitting where she had slept. Her big eyes open, but looking around her, frightened and unfocused.

"Ariadne?" Arthur said. His voice becoming more gentle as he moved close to her. Trying to look at here eyes. Something was defiantly wrong.

"What's happened?" Eames asked securing the sleeping Mark.  
>"She was shot. In the dream." Cobb said worriedly as Ariadne started to cry. A frightened cry like a child might make. "We... she fell." Cobb finally said as Arthur tried to take hold of Ariadne's hands. The Architect slapping his away.<p>

"Cobb, what happened?" Arthur barked as Ariadne tried to look away from the Point Man. Afraid of him suddenly when she was never afraid of anything.

"Shh. It's alright." Arthur turned back to her as he was horrified to see tears running down her face. She folded her arms over her head.

"She fell into Limbo." Cobb said.

"Cobb." Eames gasped. "Yuseff said with this compound, Limbo could be infinite."

"I know." Cobb said as Arthur was trying to calm Ariadne down. "One of the projections shot her. She died in the dream." Cobb said.

"It's alright. Ariadne, no one's mad." Arthur said soothingly as she was covering her ears with her hands.

"We have to get out of here." Eames said. "Our Mark will wake up soon. Not to mention three men with a crying woman on a train together?"

"Eames is right." Cobb said standing and shouldering his bag.  
>"What about Ariadne?" Arthur growled standing up and glaring at Cobb.<p>

"We take her with us." Cobb said simply.

"How are we going to get through the train station with her like this? People take one look at her, and then us? They will think she's a victim of something. Police will be on us in no time." Eames said.

"He's right." Cobb said thinking hard.

"We have to get her to a hospital." Arthur said as Ariadne was moaning softly. Covering her face with her hair and pulling her legs up to meet her chest. Curling into a protective ball.

"Eames is right. We can't help her if were in prison." Cobb said.

"I'm not leaving her." Arthur said.

"I'll be right back, don't go anywhere." Eames said fleeing the privet train car where they had attempted to do the Inception.

"Was it worth it Cobb? Was a four million dollar payday worth it?" Arthur challenged. Feeling like he could punch his oldest friend right about now.

"We were careful this time." Cobb said defensively. "Things just went wrong."

"I don't know why I came on this mission with you." Arthur grumbled looking over their helpless, broken Architect.

"You know why." Cobb said slyly. "You wanted to see her again."

Arthur turned and gave Cobb and cold look. The Extractor shrugged.  
>"You never did this for the money. God knows you have enough of it." Cobb told him as Arthur moved Ariadne's hair away from her face. She let out a small, frightened cry and tensed like a rabbit.<p>

"You did it because you wanted to see Ariadne again." Cobb said. "Even though she had a fiancé now, and it's not you." Cobb said bitterly.

"Shut up, Cobb." Arthur said warningly. "Just shut the-"

"I'm back, Ladies." Eames said interrupting a would be fight. The Forger made sure the blinds were closed before pulling free from his pocket a small syringe.

"What's that?" Arthur asked as Eames expertly readied it.

"Xanax. I noticed a very lovely church group in car next to us. Pretended to be a little drunk and fell in. Picked the purse of the most nervous looking old lady there, and got lucky." Eames said.

"Wait, what's it for? What will it do?" Arthur said as Eames looked like he was prepared to inject Ariadne.

"It's just going to calm her down." Eames explained. "This is a 1mg dose and that should be more then enough for someone as small as she is. It will calm her down enough for us to get her out of here."

"Do it." Cobb said as Arthur reluctantly held Ariadne's hands down as Eames injected her on the exposed skin of her hip.

"Ow!" Ariadne cried as she tried to fight Arthur.  
>"It's alright." Arthur said holding her and praying she would not start yelling. The once bright, confident woman seemed totally gone and was replaced by this confused, frightened girl.<p>

~ As the train reached it's final stop, Arthur was relived the drugs had worked. Ariadne was much calmer and more trusting. Although she looked ready to fall asleep at any moment.

"We just have to get her to a cab." Cobb said as Arthur helped her to stand. "Then we can take her to our hotel."  
>"Cobb, she has to go to a hospital." Arthur said shouldering his bag and hers.<p>

"We take her to a hospital, and they start asking questions about why she's like this." Cobb warned. "We can help her best by not going to prison." The Extractor reminded them.

~ Mercifully, no one paid much attention to the four of them as the walked quickly to the cabs waiting for them. Eames was quick to secure one for them and they were out of the airport just before Ariadne fell asleep.

"Hey, is she okay?" The cab driver asked.  
>"My wife had too much to drink." Arthur explained trying to sound casual.<p>

"She had too much fun being away from the kids." Eames joked from the passenger seat as the cab driver rolled out on to the freeway traffic.

Ariadne woke up suddenly and started to have a panic attack. Screaming and crying again.  
>"Honey, honey!" Arthur said as Cobb rolled down a window so she could breath. "It's okay, were going to the hotel now."<p>

"Hey, she don't look right." The driver said. "What are you guys doing with this girl anyway?"

"Bloody hell." Eames grumbled quickly removing a side arm as Ariadne started hitting Arthur.

~ "I'm really sorry about this." Eames said as Arthur was striping the radio and lo-jack from the cab. The Forger holding the cab driver at gun point on the side of an empty road.

"Hey man, I don't care if you take the cab, but leave that girl alone. Leave her with me." The driver said. Ariadne was now screaming in the back seat and trying to hit Cobb. The Architect's attempts to flee the cab in her confusion making it impossible to not go unnoticed.

"Don't look at them or me." Eames said calmly to the driver. "Now, go down that embankment and keep walking. I'm sure the Quickie Mart there has a phone."  
>"You leave that girl alone!" The cab driver said again looking worriedly at Ariadne.<br>Eames fired a round near the driver's feet as Ariadne was crying. Cobb trying to sooth her.

"Go!" The Forger said as Arthur took the driver's seat and started the car. The cab's driver turned and walked slowly away.  
>"There's a special place in hell for people like you!" The driver shouted. "Don't think I won't be first in line to testify at your trial!"<p>

"Whatever happened to minding your own business?" Eames grumbled. "I swear three men can't go _anywhere_ with a drugged and frighted woman these days."

He climbed into the back with Ariadne and Cobb. Preventing her from pulling on the door handles.

Arthur sped off. Leaving the city behind in a trail of dust.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ Ariadne finally calmed down after a three hour drive out of the city.

"We have to get on another plane." Arthur said worriedly as night started to fall over the highway. "Their going to be looking for us. I'm sure that good Samaritan didn't waste any time calling the police."

"We can't get through security with her like this." Eames said. "Maybe we should just drop her off at an ER. They can help her that way."  
>"Eames, were not leaving her." Arthur said sharply.<p>

"Eames is right, they can help her. We can drop her off, and wait outside till we know they found her."

"Cobb, I said_ no_." Arthur said. His voice that warning level that made the Extractor and Forger back off.

~ Cobb still knew people. Saito was happy to send them a privet helicopter a deserted span of road off the highway.

"What's happened to her?" The business man asked as Arthur had to coax Ariadne into the loud scary looking chopper.

"Do you have any drugs?" Eames asked looking though the chopper's first aide kit. His eyes falling with delight on a another syringe.

"That's Haldol. We use if for people freaking out after take off." The pilot said as Eames stole it and jumped back to the ground. Arthur holding Ariadne as she cried and tried to ran away.

"Trust me, we need it." Cobb said as the Forger injected Ariadne with a small dose.

"You sure this won't interfere with the other drugs you gave her?" Arthur asked as he held the struggling, screaming Architect.  
>"That was over 6 hours ago." Eames assured him."She'll be fine."<p>

~ "Ariadne, how do you feel?" Eames asked gently after 30 minuets in the air.

"How- do- you- feel?" She repeated as if learning a new language.

"Well, hopefully these will do the trick." Eames said pocketing the rest of the syringes.

"Cobb, please tell me what's going on?" Saito asked.

"She fell into Limbo. Woke up like this." Cobb explained pushing back his hair.

Saito looked at the young Architect in horror. Remembering his own time in Limbo.

"We didn't wake up like this." He said to Cobb.  
>"We used another compound." Arthur said darkly glaring daggers ad Cobb. "Makes Limbo infinite. Her mind is gone."<p>

"Can she come back?" Saito asked.

None of the men answered him as the chopper flew to New York.

~ "She can't go to a nursing home." Arthur said. "We can't even have a doctor look at her." Arthur said after the chopper landed on the roof of his building and the Team lead her down the elevator to his penthouse apartment.

"Shit, Arthur." Eames said looking around. "You_ live_ here?"

"Don't touch anything." Arthur said to him as he walked Ariadne to the little guest room.

~ "This is your bed." Arthur said gently to her as he pulled down the covers. Ariadne looked numbly around the beautifully decorated bedroom Arthur kept for guests he never had. "You need to get some sleep, your very tired." He added when she didn't move.

He turned on the bathroom light that was adjacent to the room.

"I'm going to leave the bathroom light on." He said softly. Ariadne looked at the bathroom and back at her bed.

"Come on." He whispered. "I'll help you."

Ariadne trustingly let him take off her jacket and her shoes before he retrieved her night gown from her bag. She seemed to have forgotten everything. The most basic of things. How to change her clothes and Arthur had to avert his eyes as he helped her dress for bed. Something about seeing her almost naked in her like this seemed wrong. In almost any other situation, he would have delighted in such a thing, but now, he couldn't think of her that way anymore.

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?" He whispered. Not sure if he was up to helping her with that privet function.

She looked numbly at the lighted bathroom and walked steadily to it. Her memory of what to do wasn't that lost to her. She thankfully shut the door behind her and Arthur trusted she was alright as he tucked her dirty clothes in the closet. He heard the toilet flush and heard the running water from the sink as she washed her hands.

She emerged from the bathroom still looking confused as what to do next.

"Come here." He whispered gently. As if talking to a traumatized animal who was afraid of humans.

He took her hand and helped her into the clean sheets of her bed.

"I'll be right outside. I want you to go to sleep. You'll feel better in the morning. I promise." He told her.

He left the bathroom light on and turned off the bedroom light.

"Thank you." She said in a child like voice before he shut the door.

~ "We had better call what's-his-face." Eames said. "That douche bag that she's going to marry."

"Cooper." Arthur grumbled. He had never met the young man Ariadne had been dating since the Fischer job, but he didn't like him. "His name is Cooper."

"Is she asleep?" Cobb asked as Arthur sat down on his couch. He suddenly felt exhausted. Like he could sleep for ten years.

"Yes. I think that medication worked. She's a lot calmer now." He said. "Even talking."

"Were going to need more of that stuff." Cobb said nodding at Eames who was looking over the art work on Arthur's wall. Trying to apprise how much it might be worth.  
>"Yeah, I'll get right on it." Eames said. "Is this a real Picasso?" he asked Arthur.<p>

~ Arthur's instincts about Cooper were right. He was a tall, burly college drop-out who wore his baseball cap turned around. Everything about him smacked of an Ex-frat boy.

'_What did she ever see in you?_' Arthur thought as he shook the young man's hand.

"So, like, is Ariadne okay?" He asked in his neanderthal like voice. Arthur had found the loser on Ariadne's phone and told him the bad news.

"No, Cooper. I'm afraid she's not." He said gravely.

"Coop. My Bros, they all call me Coop." The idiot said looking around Arthur's penthouse. Eames had gone to procure more medication for Ariadne and Cobb was with her in the library. Ariadne had woken up still confused and lost.

Arthur had half hoped that she would come back to herself somehow in her sleep. But she had woken up calmer and had allowed Arthur to help her dress. Always looking at him with her big confused eyes. Not understanding what was going on around her.

He was grateful she still had the hard wired memory of going to the bathroom on her own as well as walking and talking. Yet, some of her words were just lost.

"Well,_ Coop_." Arthur said feeling the bile rise in his throat. "No, she's not alright. She had a mild stork while on her trip to L.A. Yesterday. Were having a specialist treat her now." Arthur lied.

He and the rest of Team had stayed up almost all night creating a phoney story of a stroke, complete with forged medical documents.

They needn't have bothered putting so much work into it.  
>"What does that mean? It that like, contagious or something?" Cooper asked. "Could she have given me something?" He asked in a confidential whisper.<br>"No." Arthur said coldly. Stunned at how someone so stupid could still walk upright. "No, a stroke is not an STD, Coop. Something happened to her brain. She's not able to function anymore." He explained.

"Function how?" Cooper asked.

"Well, she doesn't seem to remember things. Her language skills have been affected." Arthur explained. "So, when she sees you, she might not remember who you are."

"Whoa! Wait, Bro." cooper said holding up his hands. Thinking really hard.

Arthur turned to look at him.  
>"Be honest with me, man. Like, how bad is she? Like can she go to the bathroom by herself? Can she walk?" Cooper looked around the empty apartment and whispered. "She's still gonna be able to clean herself up, right?" He asked.<br>"Cooper, I think you need to be ready for a long recovery for her. She may never come back. We don't know how much the stroke affected her brain. There is a very good chance she might never be the same." Arthur said finally.

"Shit, Bro." Cooper said looking stunned. "Well, it's a good thing this happened now and not after the wedding."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked. Although he already knew the answer.

"Well, I mean... it's a lucky break, Bro." Cooper said. "Can you imagine if I had to take care for her like that?"

"Yeah, it would be hard on you." Arthur said coolly.

"Look, Bro. Your Arthur right? Ariadne says really nice things about you." Cooper said looking happy again. "Can you do me a solid? Can you get the ring back? Only, it's like a ton of money and I hate to just walk away from it."

"Sure thing, Coop." Arthur said with a sickly sweet smile.

~ Ariadne was quietly looking through picture books in Arthur's library.

"How's she doing?" Arthur asked Cobb and the Point Man silently came in. He was holding his right hand, now red and swollen.

"She's fine. She likes the books with all the photography in them." Cobb said. "What happened to you?" he asked noticing his hand.

"Oh, I met her Ex." Arthur explained nodding to his hand. "Didn't think his head would be so hard." He added.

"You hit him?" Cobb said putting two and two together.

"He's an asshole." Arthur said defending himself. "Even asked for the ring back."

"Shit." Cobb said "What did you say?"

"Well, after his face stopped _accidentally_ hitting my hand, I told him I would fed-ex it to him. I would hate for the little shit to be out the $30 bucks." Arthur said. Smiling for the fist time since Ariadne was lost.

Arthur walked over to Ariadne who was sitting on the floor looking over the bright pictures. Her fingers tracing over a stunning photo of trees with green moss growing over them. Arthur made a mental note to pick up art books for her.

She looked up at him and blinked indifferently.

"Hello." She said in that child like voice.

"Hello, Ariadne." Arthur said sitting next to her.

"You know me?" She asked looking Arthur over.

The Point Man sighed.

"Yes, I know you." He said gently.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

_~ Ariadne was underwater. Swimming upward into daylight. Her lungs burning for air and no way to get to the surface in time. Still she swam upward until her face broke the surface. _

_ She was choking from the water she had been forced to swallow and trying to gasp in large breaths of precious air. _

_ The water was cold and mist rolled off it's still surface. She was treading water and looked around the lake. Where was her Team? Three men she could always count on. Who she trusted. _

"_Hello?" She called out. Only silence came back to her. Mocking her. _

_ Out of the mist, she saw a bright red boat. Drifting to her on its own unnatural power. For a moment, she didn't want to get into the strange little row boat, but the water was cold as death as she dared not go back under the water again. _

_ She knew there might be things lurking under the dark waters there. _

_ She claimed into the boat and tried to shake off the cold as the mist reached her, clouding everything. _

~ She woke up in a strange bed in a strange room. It was dark outside and she didn't know where she was. She huddled under the covers for what felt like hours before her fear of the dark won out and she let out a frightened shout.

A stranger came into the room.

"Ariadne." He said turning on the lights. She didn't know this man and quickly covered her body up with her bedding.  
>"Where am I?" She cried as the young man came and knelt by her bed.<p>

"Your in your room." He said trying to take her hand.

"What room? Who are you?" She said feeling a rising sense of panic.

The man sighed deeply.  
>"Ariadne, I'm Arthur. Don't you remember me? Were friends." He said looking at her worriedly.<p>

"No!" She said feeling herself want to cry. "I don't know who you are. I want to go home!"

"Ariadne." He said patiently. "You _are_ home. _This_ is your home now."

"No!" She shouted again. "I don't know you!"

~ "She's doing alright." Arthur said as he and Eames walked from the book store. "A few night terrors, but they have stopped with the medication. She is slightly more articulate when she wakes up, but loses some vocabulary after she's been awake for a while."

"Still, you left her in the apartment alone?" Eames asked.  
>"I didn't have anyone to watch her. Cobb had to go back to the kids. Your always running around." Arthur said looking over the half dozen art books and water color set. "She's fine. She's been drawing all day and I left her music on. I've only been gone an hour. How much trouble can she get into?"<p>

~ The two men arrived in the penthouse to see pages from magazines torn and ripped all over the floor. Ariadne's piano music playing eerily over the stereo. The Architect was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, Dear." Eames said as the two men looked at the disaster of a living room.  
>"Ariadne?" Arthur shouted. He dropped his books and water color set and went searching for her.<p>

"Ariadne!" Eames shouted. "Arthur." Eames said looking at the mess of papers.

The Point Man turned to look at the Forger.  
>"There's blood on the floor." Eames said.<br>"Ariadne!" Arthur shouted again running down the hallway. He saw the hallway mirror, broken and with large glass shards on the floor. Blood was on the walls and Ariadne was not in her room, her bathroom, his room, his bathroom, his closet or anywhere.

"Ariadne!" He was shouting through the empty pent house.

"Arthur!" Eames called. "I found her! She's here!"

Out on the balcony, Ariadne was crouched in a ball. Her hands were bleeding as they clutched tightly a large shard of broken mirror.

"Ariadne." Eames was saying gently. "Let me have that, Sweetheart. That's a nasty old thing, we don't want you holding that."

"No... men...they came up out … out of the floor and were... they were trying to grab me.!" She was crying. Her hand going to her face and she tried to wipe the tears away and getting her own blood all over her.

"Ariadne." Arthur said sternly. "Give that to me!"  
>"Get away!" She screamed waving the shard of mirror like a knife and almost cutting Arthur with it.<p>

"Ariadne." Eames said softly. "Let go of that thing. It's a bad thing."

Perhaps it was the accent, but Ariadne seemed much more soothed by Eames' gentle coaxing. She let him take the shard away from her.

~ "She could have fallen off the ledge, Arthur. It's a long way down from here." Eames said gravely.  
>"I know." Arthur said coldly.<p>

He had finally finished cleaning all the paper and glass off the floor.

"She was out there on that balcony and she could have gotten confused and fallen." Eames persisted.

"I know!" Arthur fumed.

"Okay. I know you know." Eames said. "You know she needs a nurse. She needs someone here full time or else she has to go to some kind of facility."  
>"She's not going into a nursing home." Arthur growled.<p>

After they had convinced Ariadne to come back inside, Arthur bandaged the cuts on her hand as Eames gave her another shot to calm her down. The Forger had found a contact to sell him the necessary medication. No questions asked. No doctor needed.

Arthur cleaned the blood off her but knew he would need help. He would need to hire a nurse to give her a proper bath and take care of her. Her bandaged hand meant she could barely do anything now.

Arthur was faced with the sobering reality that he couldn't take care of her.

~ There were plenty of nurses in the city who had a great deal of experience. Arthur finally selected an older lady named Erma.  
>"I've worked about 40 years in nursing." Erma said. She was sitting on the chair opposite him. "I've mainly worked with the elderly. Altimeters and the like." She said.<p>

"Why did you leave it?" Arthur asked.

"Got too old. It's a lot of work taking care of them. One person is much easier." Erma said.

"You know this is a live-in arrangement. You need to be here at all times, except for your day off. I don't want her to have to get used to strangers anymore then she has to."

"Sir, is she your wife?" Erma asked.

"No, she's a friend of mine." Arthur said looking over her resume. Erma looked at Ariadne.

"May I ask what happened?" She asked.  
>"She had a stroke." Arthur said reading the letters of references.<p>

"I've worked with stroke victims before. Never seen one like that before." Erma said watching Ariadne paint with her water colors. "I had thought she was on seizure medication or had some kind of accident. Brain damage or something."

Arthur looked up at the older woman.

'_Why didn't we think to say that was what happened?_' Arthur thought.

"Have you had experience working with people like um... like Ariadne?" Arthur asked looking over at his friend.

"Yes." Erma said simply. "Their a lot more like children then anything else."

"Well, lets try it for a week and see how Ariadne likes you." Arthur said.

"That will be fine. But I need to tell you now, since your not her husband and she's like this, my first priority is to protect her. If I see you being more then gentlemanly around her, if I see you talking advantage of her condition, I'll report it. Understand?" Erma said soberly.

Arthur only nodded as Erma stood up.

"Come with me little one." She said to Ariadne. "We need to give you a nice hot bath and wash your hair. I'm gonna put some nice soap in the bath just for you. Fix your hair pretty." She said taking Ariadne's uncut hand.

Arthur watched as the Architect went trustingly with her new nurse. Only looking back at him once as Erma took her to the bathroom.

Arthur wrote a note to himself to give Erma a larger salary then he promised.

~ "So the nurse is working out?" Eames asked as the older lady and the Architect were sitting at the dinning room table.

"Yes, Erma fixes her food, makes sure she get a bath and wears clean clothes." Arthur said catching a quick glance as Ariadne doing more of her water colors.

Boats. Always a solitary red row boat on a still lake, surrounded by a heavy fog. None of her paintings held any of the skill Ariadne normally had in painting, but it was still very pretty work.

She seemed quieter now. She spoke very little and Erma was the one who did most of the talking for her.

"Ariadne, are you hungry? Do you want to paint? Do you want to take a nap? Do you want to listen to your music?"

Arthur was pleased that Ariadne seemed very attached to the motherly nurse.

"It's very nice that you bought our girl new clothes to. Aside from paying for her care now." Eames said with a knowing little smile.

~ Arthur had ordered the former Architect several changes of clothing that he told Erma to dress her in everyday. Very flattering dresses, skirts, blouses and ballet flats. Her wardrobe was impressive even if Ariadne didn't acknowledge it.  
>"Never see clothes this nice for a someone in her state. Normally, it's all wash and wear." Erma said looking over the care instructions for a pencil skirt.<p>

"I want her dressed nicely and her hair combed." Arthur instructed Erma. The Point Man put a lot of value on appearances and he wanted Ariadne looking her best.

The nurse complied beautifully. Ariadne was tended by the older lady like a living doll. Her dress, hair and light make-up made her look more put together then before she was lost.

~ "Cut it out Eames. Were responsible for what happened to her." Arthur growled.

"I know, a lesser gentleman would have just put her in a home." Eames said. "Not put her up in his home."

Arthur scowled over the chess pieces. Eames was a capable player and didn't even try.

"Very bighearted of you." The Forger added. "Keeping a pretty, confused girl in your pent house."

"Check." Arthur said moving his piece to knock out Eames'. "Don't waste your breath, Mr. Eames. Erma, the nurse, already has me on watch. She's making sure I stay a gentleman." Arthur said with an appreciative laugh.

"I think the flowers in her room are very nice to." Eames whispered stealing a glance at Ariadne. She was now looking over a puzzle book Arthur had gotten her. Finding hidden things in pictures.

"She's afraid to go outside. All the traffic and people." Arthur explained. "Putting flowers in her room is the best we can do. But she's doing a lot better."

~ The next night, Ariadne woke up screaming.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

_~ She was running through the dark forest. A maze of menacing, nighttime trees with green moss covering them. All of them looked alike and she was becoming lost. The mist was rolling over her and threatening to pull her back in. Like some monster from a child's story. _

_ There were things roaming in the woods. Shadowy specters who crept just outside of her field vision. Hiding and waiting to bite her. _

_ She was running away from the encroaching mist when she could finally see the lake with the red row boat. She had to reach the red boat. She would be safe once she was back on the boat. Whatever creatures lived in the woods, they could not touch her there. _

_ As she reached the shoreline, hands were on her. Cold, dead hands coming from the ground and pulling her legs. _

"_No! Help!" She screamed as the hands started to rip the skin off her body. _

~ Arthur was pulled out of sleep by wild screams in the middle of the night. He was on his feet quickly, racing to her room.

"Now, now!" Erma was saying as Ariadne was crying in the corner. "You had a bad dream that's all."

"No! The men... men coming out of the ground!" Ariadne screamed looking at non-existent phantoms on her bedroom floor.  
>"Ariadne!" Erma cried trying to sooth her. "It's alright!"<p>

"No!" Ariadne screamed. "Let me go!"

Ariadne slapped her nurse then. Hard on the face.  
>"Get away from me!" She screamed.<p>

"Erma, it's alright." Arthur said going to Ariadne and holding her hands so she could not to hit the older woman again. The poor nurse was stunned by the slap.

"I have her." He said as Ariadne was crying in his arms. Barely able to catch her breath. "Go back to your room, Erma. I'll look after her tonight."  
>"Yes, sir." Erma said trying to hold back tears from the slap. "She's such a nice girl. I don't know why she's acting like this."<p>

~ For a long time, Ariadne cried as Arthur held her. Her face buried in his chest until she gave out from exhaustion.

"You need to go to sleep." He whispered into her hair as he guided her to her bed.  
>"Don't leave me." She murmured as she let him tuck her in. Her big eyes were helpless and frightened.<p>

Arthur was too tired to argue. It had been an exhausting night already. What if these night terrors continued? What if the meds no longer worked like they did before?

"Alright." Her said curling into bed next to her. He spooned her small body easily as she sniffled out a sob.  
>"Your going to be fine." He whispered wrapping his arms protectively around her. "I promise."<p>

"I have to get out." She said faintly. "The mist, it's everywhere. I'm only safe on the boat."

Arthur felt his brow furrow into a scowl.

"What are you talking about?" He whispered I her ear.

"I'm lost. I need to find my way out. Every time I leave the red boat, they grab me. I can't find my way out. It's like a maze, all the trees. Then the mist comes." She whispered. Her voice sounding far away and dream like. "I have to find Arthur." She said breathlessly.

"Ariadne, _I'm_ Arthur. Your safe. I'm right here." He whispered in her ear.  
>"I have to find my way back. I have to get out before the mist takes me." She said before falling asleep.<p>

~ Arthur didn't return to his own bed that night. It was too comfortable to stay curled up with Ariadne. He felt like a pacified cat. Content to be lazy in a comfortable spot.

He finally woke up to a finger gently poking him around his mouth and nose.

Arthur opened his eyes to see Ariadne smiling down at him. Morning rays of sunlight streaming through her bedroom window. A vase of fresh, pink roses on her night stand.

"You look happy when you sleep." She said simply with an innocent smile.  
>He chuckled.<br>"That's because I was dreaming." her said taking hold of her hand as she was running her finger over his forehead.  
>"Your always mad when your awake." She commented.<br>"I'm not mad." He said softly. He was content to lay here looking at her. The radiance of the morning was on her face. Surely, this was bliss to wake up to her face each morning.

"Things are just easier, when we dream." He said making himself more comfortable in her bed.

"What did we dream about?" She asked. Her words clumsy and child like.  
>He sighed.<p>

"_We_ dream about what it was like before." He said. Not phased as she curled herself, kitten-like into his arms. Snuggling her head on his shoulder.  
>"What was it like before?" She asked.<p>

"You were with us. We were friends." He said sadly.

"What happened?" She asked as if he were telling a story.

"You... you got a little lost." He said running a hand over her arm, breathing in the smell of her shampoo.

"I'm lost?" She asked.

"Yes." He said trying to swallow hard.

"Sir?" Came Erma's voice. Arthur jumped at seeing Erma standing in the doorway of Ariadne's bedroom. The sudden awkwardness of being in bed with Ariadne washed over him.

"Breakfast is almost ready." She said stiffly. An unpleasant look on her face.

"Oh, okay." He said folding back their covers and leaving her bed.

"Come and eat, Child." Erma said taking Ariadne's hand.

She went with her her nurse, trusting as always. The older woman throwing him a filthy look.

~ "Sir, I made my feelings known about taking advantage of this girl's condition." Erma said once Ariadne had starting eating and Arthur had dressed. His pristine suit making him feel more in control of his uncontrollable home life.

"I didn't _take advantage_. We just slept in the same bed, that's all." Arthur said feeling his face flush.

It felt inherently wrong to even see Ariadne in a sexual way now. Since becoming lost, Ariadne was childlike and innocent. It was wrong think of her that way.

"She had that nightmare and felt better with my staying." He told her.

"I know you care for her, Sir." Erma said compassionately. "I see everything you do for her. It's far more then most husbands would do for their wives. But she's not in her right mind. She can't give consent."

"Erma!" Arthur said helping himself to coffee and roughly slamming the pot back into the machine. "I deeply appreciate the fact you are protective of Ariadne. I'm very grateful for everything you do for her." Arthur said. "But I would never take advantage of her like that. Maybe if this never happened to her... we would be together, but..." He couldn't finish because Ariadne had started to cry.  
>"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Erma said running a hand over Ariadne's hair.<p>

"He's mad." Ariadne whimpered shying away from Arthur.

"No, I'm not mad." Arthur said softening his rougher voice. He sat next to her and took her hand.

"You know I'm not happy when I'm awake." He said with a smile.

She stared back at him with her large tear stained eyes and sniffed.

"Your happy when we dream together?" She asked sadly.

Arthur nodded.

"Yes, When we dream together." He whispered.

_~ She was laying down in the red, row boat. The cold water surrounding her. The mist covering her. She felt a sharp wave of hopelessness wash over her. Causing an unnamed pain deep in her body. She was crying as she could feel herself slip away. _

~ "Sir?" Erma said one morning. "Ariadne has not been eating very much. Her appetite is off and she's been very lethargic and not herself."

"Is she sick?" Arthur asked.

"No fever." Erma said. "I normally see this with older people. When they start to go down."  
>"What do you mean 'go down'?" Arthur asked.<p>

"I think she's dieing, Sir." Erma whispered worriedly.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ "I'm glad you can see her on a good day, Cobb." Arthur whispered as he and the Extractor were standing outside on the balcony. They could see Eames and Ariadne looking through her water colors in the living room.

The former Architect had been looking very pale and thin the past few days. Her once brilliant eyes had lost some of their sparkle and were marred by dark circles. Even her hair was now lanky and lifeless.

"She's been having the nightmares every night. Always the same. Always running through a forest at night, hands grabbing her." Arthur said.

His own appearance, had suffered just as greatly as hers. His face was unshaven and his eyes were rimed with dark circles that matched Ariadne's. His once immaculate clothing was wrinkled and worn from the Point Man snatching sleep however and whenever her could.

"Arthur, you look terrible, when was the last time you slept?" Cobb asked.

"Been a while since I've been able to sleep all night. Erma helps, but Ariadne sleeps only a few hours and then wakes up screaming." Arthur explained.

"You think Erma might be right?" Cobb asked uncomfortably. "About Ariadne dieing?"

"Look at her, Cobb." Arthur said casting his weary eyes on the once bright and vivacious young woman.

These days, she never seemed to be able to eat. Her mind seemed revolted by the very notion of food. Erma begged, bribed and even threatened to get her to eat more then a few bites, but all to no avail. The former Architect could not even be roused to paint her water colors of a dark forest or a red boat.

Instead, she spent her time sleeping, only for a few hours, always waking up screaming.

"We can't get her to eat. Erma suggested a feeding tube." Arthur said gravely.

"Arthur, maybe the time has come to put her in a facility. You did your best. You've been devoting yourself full time to her total care. She's not getting better." Cobb said as gently as he could.

"Cobb, a home can't help her. She's slipping away in her _mind_. I can tell. She won't even talk anymore." Arthur said. Trying to quell the rising sense of panic he was feeling. "Her mind is going, that's whats killing her."

"I know what you want to do, Arthur." Cobb said as the Extractor glanced over at Eames.

The Forger looked sad as he tried to get Ariadne to talk to him. All his efforts seemingly futile.

"It can't be done. It shouldn't be done." Cobb said sadly.

"We once said the same thing about Inception." Arthur reminded him. "It's the only way. We can go into her mind, bring her back. The trees, the row boat, they have to mean something, Cobb. She could be using them to describe Limbo. The longer we leave her like this, the less chance we have of getting her back."

"Arthur, she may already be lost." Cobb said. "It's too dangerous."

"I'm not asking you an Eames to go in. I just need the PASIV and the compound we used before." Arthur said not taking his eyes of Ariadne. He took in her sickly complexion, her dead eyes as she stared at the wall.

"What if you get lost down there with her?" Cobb asked. "We can't risk losing both of you."

"If Mal was lost in Limbo, would you try anything to get her back?" Arthur asked.

"I _did _get her back, we saw how well that turned out." Cobb said harshly. "Arthur, she can't come back."

"We have to try, Cobb. We don't have much time." Arthur said focusing on Ariadne.

~ Erma was given the night off. The older lady looking suspicious of the three men around the helpless and confused young woman.

"Ariadne." Arthur said handing her a glass of milk as she pulled the covers over her. "I want you to drink this, it will help you to sleep.

She was shaking her head and looking frightened of drinking anything.  
>"Yes, we need to drink this." He said smoothing back her tired, limp hair. "Then, we can dream together again." He promised. His voice was gentle yet tired.<p>

It took a great deal of coaxing to get her to finish the glass of milk he had laced with the sleeping additive. She was quickly sedated as Cobb hooked them both up to the PASIV.

"Your crazy you know. What do you want me to do if you get lost in there?" Cobb asked.

"I've left instructions with my lawyers." Arthur said as he mentally prepared to fall into Ariadne's dream. "They will take care of everything."

"Alright." Cobb said respecting the Point Man's decision. "Good luck, Arthur."


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ Dark, cold water enveloped him as he fought for the surface. The air in his lungs growing tight as he felt he would never make it in time. The cold grip of the underwater world was pulling him back down as Arthur struggled to finally reach the weak daylight.

He broke the surface of the lake with violent coughing and desperate gasps for air.

A heavy mist was crowding over the surface of the water as Arthur tired to gain his bearings.

The stillness was overpowering. The only noise in this strange, unnatural place was the Point Man's breathing. Not even the water made noise as he gave a halfhearted swim to see past the mist.

He had no idea where the shoreline was. The mist so thick that he could barley see beyond three feet. He had no idea if he would be headed for shore or further out.

Like a ghost, the bow of a row boat broke through the mist. It's silent propulsion making Arthur want to swim away from it. His inner voice telling him such a thing was evil. Through the fog, he could see a crouched figure sitting in the boat. It's back curved and draped in darkness.

The boat was slipping away from him quickly. Perhaps it was evil, but it would soon leave him and he would eventually drown in this world of water and mist.

With one sure hand, he grasped the side of the weathered, red boat and dragged himself aboard.

~ "What are you doing here?" Came a raspy, ancient voice. Arthur had to take a moment to collect himself. The fight in the water had taken more out of him then he thought. He looked up slowly at the dark figure covered in mist. It's sickly tendrels, lacing around the figure like fingers.

"You can't get away from the fog." The Voice said again. It was hard for Arthur to tell if it was male of female. The Voice was so aged and horse. "The fog..." It said sadly. "So much worse then it was before."

Arthur squired at the dark figure before him. The mist lifting slightly and revealing a horribly aged woman. Her long white hair had grown to her knees. Her posture was bowed over and her face was weathered and coursed with deep wrinkles.

"How do we get out of the mist?" Arthur asked looking over what Limbo had done to Ariadne.

"We can't." The old woman said dejectedly. "It's just... getting worse."

"I came here, to bring you back." Arthur said steadily. "To try... and bring your mind back."

"Arthur?" She said in a tired voice. Her eyes, blind from age, lifting up to peer at him. "You shouldn't have come. You should have just left me here."

"Your dieing the real world." Arthur whispered as the fog rolled in heavier over them. We don't have much time. You know this world is not real." Arthur whispered trying to take the weathered hand of the old woman.

"There is no way out of this world." Ariadne said. Her voice containing only a hint of the young woman she had been before. "I've tried, there is no way out of the mist."

"Ariadne." Arthur whispered as the mist began to obscure the old woman again. "I need you to trust me."

His hand fell on the hand gun he had dreamed for himself.

"You know the way out. You know this world is not real." He said handing her the gun. "You have to trust me." He whispered as he could feel the fog weighing them down.

"Come back to me." He whispered. "Come back to me."

The old woman took the gun from his hands. Her twisted fingers barely able to grasp it.

With a horrible bang that broke the silent world, the old woman's body fell off the row boat and into the cold waters. Arthur's body followed.

~ Arthur opened his eyes to Ariadne's bedroom.

"Ariadne?" Cobb was saying as the Point Man could feel her panicked body wake up. Hear her gasping for breath.  
>"Hey, do you know who I am?" Cobb asked sternly as Ariadne's abrupt jump back into the real world shocked her.<br>She took a few deep breaths and stared hard at the Extractor.  
>"Cobb." She said sternly. "Your Cobb."<p>

"That's right." Cobb said with an exhausted smile. "Do you know who he is?" he said nodding at Arthur who managed to stand up, disconnecting himself from the PASIV device.  
>"Yes... Arthur." Ariadne said looking around the room. Her eyes seeming clearer now. Scared, certainly, but no longer confused.<br>"Cobb, where am I? What happened on the train?" She asked.

~ Ariadne was starving. The first thing she wanted to do was eat.  
>"I remember going under. In the dream, I was shot. Then... I don't know, it was strange. I think I was on a lake, there was a red boat." She said between bites of her sandwich.<p>

"You dropped into Limbo." Cobb told her as Arthur stayed in the kitchen, listening to them and saying nothing.

"How long have I been asleep?" Ariadne asked in disbelief.

"Well, you haven't really been sleeping." Cobb said uncomfortably.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You woke up with the rest of us, but your mind was gone." Cobb said gently.

"What do you mean my _mind was gone_?" She asked. Her voice containing that certain edge that Arthur had learned meant trouble.

"Ariadne, you were... confused. You didn't remember us or anything we had done. You were mentally lost." Cobb said as gently as he could.

"Mentally lost." She repeated numbly. "Arthur, what does he mean?" Ariadne said abandoning her food and standing up.

The Point Man was finally pulled into the difficult conversation.

"You were lost. Like an Alzheimer patient. You had no memory of us and we brought you here to take care of you." He said slowly.

"Take care of me? How... how bad was I?" She said. The panic coming into her voice.

"You could talk, walk, you even painted with water colors." Arthur said trying to point out the good things about her condition.

"My God!" She breathed. "Could I go to the bathroom by myself?" She asked. Her face flushing red. "I mean did you... have to..."

"You could do all that. I hired a nurse to help you." Arthur said wanting to go to her. Wanting to comfort her, but something held him back. Perhaps the horrified look on Ariadne's face.

"A nurse? I had to have a _nurse_?" She almost cried.

"It wasn't that bad." Cobb said soothingly.

"It was bad enough to require a nurse." Ariadne said. Her eyes were wide in shock.

"You were just a little confused." Arthur said. "You weren't totally helpless. The nurse kept you from hurting yourself."  
>"Did she have to dress me? Clean me?" Ariadne cried.<p>

"No, I mean, she helped you a little with those things." Arthur said trying to be honest but not wanting to hurt her.

"Oh my God." Ariadne said holding her stomach. "How long was I like that?"

"Over a month." Arthur said calmly.

Ariadne shut her eyes, trying to block it out.

"I need to leave. I need to call Cooper." She said finally.  
>"Um... Ariadne?" Cobb said looking uncomfortable.<p>

"What? What is it?" She snapped sensing there was something else they wern't telling her.

"Umm..." Cobb siad and finally looked to Arthur for help.  
>"When we told Cooper you were... ill. He decided to leave." Arthur said stiffly. "I'm sorry."<p>

"What do you mean he left?" Ariadne said. "Were... were getting married."

"He asked I get the ring back." Arthur said formally. Looking at his shoes.

Ariadne looked at her left hand. The engagement ring noticeably absent now. She stood silently for a long time. Looking at both men with an unreadable look on her face.

Finally, she left the kitchen, returning to her room and slamming the door shut.

"That went well." Cobb sighed.  
>"At least she's back." Arthur grumbled.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ Ariadne had tried to call Cooper. His roommate answered and told her he was out on a date. She sat on her bed feeling suddenly very winded. She remembered nothing since the train until she woke up in the guest room of Arthur's pent house.

What Arthur had told her was true. Cooper had left her, and she had been like some kind of mental patent. Doing water colors and needing a full time nurse. God only knew what she had been like under that state. How she had behaved. Her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment.

It was late already as she was tired. She finally went to bed in what she knew to be the room Arthur had given her. She fell asleep looking at a bouquet of pink roses on her night table and wondering what to do next.

~ "So you took care of me?" Ariadne asked the older lady who came to her room that morning.

"Yes, dear." Erma said with a happy smile. She was running her fingers through Ariadne's hair. "I'm so glad to see you like this. It's just a _miracle_. To think the doctor finally gave you medicine that works!"

"Thank you." Ariadne said with a blush. The kindly nurse seemed to honestly care for her. Believing the lie Arthur and Cobb had concocted about a new treatment drug. "Can I ask you something? How bad was I?"

"What do you mean?" Erma asked as she made Ariadne's bed.

"I mean, did Arthur... or you... have to take me to the bathroom? Did you... I mean..." Ariadne couldn't finish yet she had to know.  
>"Oh no, Darling." Erma laughed. "You could do a lot on your own. Your friend hired me to make sure you were taken care of properly and didn't accidentally hurt yourself. He wanted only the best for you. Did you see the clothes he bought you? And he had roses sent to your room every day."<p>

Ariadne was shocked when Erma opened the closet and saw an assortment of practical and elegant clothing.

"He bought these for me?" She asked running a hand over the designer labels.

"He planed to take care of you for a long time." Erma said. "I still can't believe you came back like this. So suddenly to. It's surely a gift."

Ariadne nodded. Arthur had ventured into Limbo to get her back. It was a terrible risk he had taken and she barely acknowledged it last night.

"Arthur's a good friend." She whispered to herself.

"Yes, he is. _Marry him._" Erma told her.

"Were just friends." Ariadne said with a blush.

"That's what he said. But men who are just friends don't turn their lives upside down to take care of a girl." Erma said.

"How did he take of me?" She asked.  
>"You had bad nightmares. He stayed in the bed with you all night sometimes." Erma told her soberly.<p>

"He did?" Ariadne asked.

There was a knock on her door.  
>"Come in." Ariadne said closing the closet door.<p>

Arthur appeared in her room, looking shy at his own intrusion.

"Who are you?" She asked when she saw him.

Arthur's face fell in shock.

"I'm kidding." She said with a laugh as Erma silently left them.

"Very funny." Arthur said letting out a sigh and closing the door behind him.

"I met Erma. She's nice." Ariadne said shyly.

"She's very good." Arthur agreed.

"She told me, all that you did for me." Ariadne said looking around the nice guest room. "That you kept me at your home instead of putting me in some hospital."

"A place like that, was never an option." Arthur said. She nodded and didn't look at him.

"Tell me what Copper said when he found out." She asked.

"I don't know what you ever saw in him." Arthur said bitterly.

"He was a nice guy." Ariadne said defensively. "But, I'm not totally shocked he bailed. Why did you do all this for me? It's more then because were friends. You even bought me new clothes." She said nodding to the closet.

"You needed new clothes." He said formally.  
>"You went into Limbo to get me." She said at last. "That was above and beyond. You didn't have to do that." She told him.<p>

"You were dieing." Arthur said. "You were losing yourself."

"I know." She whispered. "Arthur, this is strange for me. I mean we were friends, but I don't know what we are now."

"Were still friends." Arthur said stepping closer to her. "Nothing can change that."

"Erma said you stayed with me when I had nightmares. Sometimes sleeping in the same bed. That you kept me here in your home. That you sent me roses everyday. That's more then what friends do." Ariadne protested.

"I never took advantage." Arthur whispered taking her hand.

"I know that." She said with a sigh. "So why did you do this?" She asked again. "It would have been easier on you to put me in a home."

For a long time Ariadne thought she wouldn't get an answer out of him. Finally he said:

"You know why."

"Tell me." She wheedled. Arthur looked uncomfortable.

"Ariadne, you knew how I felt about you. Right after the Fischer Inception... you told me you didn't feel the same way. That you just wanted to be friends. You were dating that idiot man-boy Cooper. You know, I care about you." He said.

"Everything you did here, I think it's more then just caring." She said.

"Yes, it is. I did this, all of this... because I wanted you to know you were loved." He admitted.

"Well, I defiantly feel that." She said looking at the roses on her night table. She felt a blush creep over her cheeks.  
>"So." She sighed not looking at him "What do we do now?"<p>

~ END ~

**Sorry! I kinda did a 50/50 ending there. I'm gonna let your imaginations take it to the next level. This story was all about loving someone in a deeper way then romantic love. Love is more then romantic or sexual love. I've seen a lot of people who were in Ariadne's condition. It's so hard for people to see their loved ones like this. A lot of times their personalities change and they do not remember their husbands, wives or even their children. **

** People keep messaging me, asking me to bring back 1940' Arthur. I kinda finished that story. I'm really, really glad people liked it so much. I was sad to see it end to. JGL defiantly needs to do a WW2 movie, NOW! **

** People also want another one where Ariadne loses her virginity to Arthur. Already did that one in "The Event" folks. Can't pop it twice. LOL. **

** Thank you so much for reading and favoring me. **


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